Friday, November 21, 2014

First Handmade Accordion Fold Journal

I'm kind of taking a break from painting and classes this week by doing other creative things. I have a bunch of projects that need to be finished, but this week I decided to try making an accordion fold journal. I learned what "not to do" on this one, but it's still usable!



I started by tearing a 12" x 18" sheet of mixed media paper in half longways and gluing the two ends together. I wasn't thinking, and I made the mistake of gluing the book covers (thin paste board) to the inside paper ends before covering them on both sides. Therefore I had to trim them to the size of the page with no overlap. I painted the edges red with a gelato crayon and glued an old piece of decorative silk thread paper to the outside covers.

I found a piece of scrapbooking paper with red hearts embellished with gold leaf, cut one out and glued it to the front using gel matte medium. Unfortunately, the matte medium also dulled the red color, making it not as vibrant. I'll have to fix that. It doesn't bring out the red silk threads in the paper now like it did before it was dulled. I will be adding some red paint to it!


Painted red acrylic on the heart and added more gold with a leafing pen. Like it much better!

I punched a tiny hole in the back cover, ran a long length of gold colored hemp cord through it (because that's what I had handy!) and tied a knot on the inside, added a glass bead to the other end, wrapped it around the journal 3-4x, and tucked it under to hold the journal together. I've never used an accordion fold journal before. I look forward to seeing what I can do with it, despite its flaws!

There are some wonderful versions of accordion folded journals online, and maybe I'll try some of those sometime, but, for now, this simple one will do for practice!

Hope you all have an awesome weekend! :)

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Gelli Print Journal

Played with my Gelli print plate today on a 12" x 18" sheet of mixed media paper, Azo Golden yellow, Quin Magenta, and Quin Violet open acrylics, and strips of ribbon and gauze. This is what it looked like as a whole sheet...


This is what it looked like after I folded it into a journal...


Front...Can you see the bird emerging?


Inside pages...


Back and Front...

This is a soft folded journal made with a Japanese fold which I have learned from several online sources. Today I found one that is made the same way, only with hard covers, and plain white papers were used. I may have to try that, and I also want to try a Japanese folded screen journal.

I can't wait to draw and write in this one and the one I shared yesterday! Fun!

Friday, November 14, 2014

On My Desk Right Now

I had so much trouble trying to view the videos from the Masters Portrait Class that I gave up for now. I think it's my internet service. Between now and the first of the year will be busy anyway, so I'm just going to do my own thing for a while and try again after Christmas. It's up for two years, so I have plenty of time and lots of inspiration from the awesome work the other students are doing.

So today I've worked some more on my 6" x 6" portrait in acrylics...



She's getting there!

I also let my inner child out to play with abandon on a sheet of 12" x 18" mixed media paper,


then used a Japanese folding technique that I learned from Jane Davenport to turn the sheet into a journal, which is now ready to decorate, paint, and write in. It has six pages besides the front and back!


Front



Inside

My pages have backgrounds that pretty much all look the same, because of the way I painted the sheet of paper. I was more interested in learning the folds and cuts to make the journal than the backgrounds for the pages on this one, but it can be painted in ways that every page is different, but still harmonious. These pages will not look the same when I actually work on them, once I figure out what I want to use the journal for. It was fun to make, and I will be making more!

And this is what's on my work table for today!

Monday, November 10, 2014

More Very Quick Sketches in Charcoal

More VERY quick sketches in the Feather Journal with a black charcoal pencil on a gessoed book page. I think I'm beginning to make friends with charcoal...


I used an old photo of my great-grandmother taken in the late 1800s, I think, but didn't even try for a likeness. Maybe one day!


A second QUICK sketch of me when I was little (I wasn't really this ugly). Again, didn't try for a likeness! Just practice trying get the upper hand on the charcoal! Black charcoal pencil on a clear gessoed page.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Very Quick Figure Sketch

I  have a picture of my paternal grandmother and me that I love, and I attempted a very quick sketch (which is better than no sketch) of my grandmother with a Stablio marks all pencil over a white gessoed altered book page in my Feather Journal.



I seem to have a habit of not leaving room for the feet in most of my figure studies. I suppose if I started with the feet, they wouldn't have heads...

The gesso brush strokes gave it a rough texture too. Next time I'll try a roller!

It looks nothing like her, but it was fun and good practice. I will try it again when I have more time and focus!